Vanished by Liza Marklund Read Free Book Online Page B

replayed in her mind, her imagination unleashed images, people dying, her temperature was going up. Then, finally, there he was, the little boy, his arms outstretched imploringly, always in slow motion, running, screaming, death in his eyes.
    Upset and coughing, she got up and downed a half-litre of water. She had to shake this off before they found her. She didn’t have time to be sick.
    Then she tried to clear her head. Compared to what might have happened, a cold was nothing. The sea closing in over her head, icy and harsh, dark and painful. She had suppressed the waves of panic threatening to engulf her and had forced her body into action, swimming under the surface as far away from the dock as possible, coming up for air, plunging under the surface again. The waves had tossed her the last few metres towards the dock on the other side of the harbour, her shoulder banging against the concrete as she turned to see him looking out over the water, a black silhouette standing out against the warehouses in the golden light.
    She had pulled herself up on to a quay of the oil dock. Stretched out between two yellow bollards, she had passed out for a while, fear and adrenalin keeping numbness at bay. Finding shelter from the wind, she had checked the contents of her bag. After a few attempts, her cellphone had worked and she’d ordered a taxi to come and pick her up at the Loudden oil terminal. The stupid driver had thought she was too wet and didn’t want to let her in the cab, but she’d persisted and he had dropped her off at this shabby hotel.
    She closed her eyes and rubbed them.
    The cab driver presented a problem. He would definitely remember her, and probably would tell tales if he was offered enough money.
    She really should leave. Pack her things and leave tonight.
    Suddenly she felt a sense of urgency. She got up, slightly more steady on her feet now that the medication had started to kick in and bring down her temperature, and pulled on her rumpled clothes. The pockets of her coat were still a bit damp.
    Just as she put the first-aid kit back in her bag, there was a knock on the door. Her heart leapt to the base of her throat, causing her to pant softly.
    ‘Aida?’ The voice was deep and silky, muffled through the door. A cat toying with a mouse.
    ‘I know you’re in there, Aida.’
    She grabbed her bag and dashed into the bathroom, locked the door, perched on the rim of the bathtub and pushed the tiny window open. A chilly breeze blew in. She tossed the bag out through the window, then tore off her coat and pushed it through the opening. At that moment she registered the sound of breaking glass in the motel room.
    ‘Aida!’
    She gathered strength and hurtled herself out the window, stretching out her hands to break her fall and turning a somersault as she landed. The blows on the bathroom door ricocheted through the open window, the sound of splintering wood filling the air. She pulled on her coat, grabbed her bag and started to run towards the expressway.

 
    MONDAY 29 OCTOBER
    A nnika got off at the end of the 41 bus line. Exhaled and watched the bus disappear behind a low-rise administration building. Everything was quiet, no people were out and about. The day was fading, spent before it had emerged. She didn’t miss it.
    She slung her bag over her shoulder and took a few steps, studying her surroundings. A strange atmosphere prevailed around these buildings and warehouses. This was where Sweden ended. A sign indicated the location of Tallinn, Klaipeda, Riga, St Petersburg, the new economies, the young democracies.
    Capitalism , Annika mused. Personal accountability, free enterprise. Is that the answer?
    She turned her face into the wind, squinting. Everything was grey. The sea. The docks, the buildings, the cranes. Cold, lingering squalls. She closed her eyes, letting the wind whip her.
    I have everything I ever wanted , she thought. This is how I want to live my life. It was my decision. No one else is